P - R
type: Concept

PAN-ALIC
type: Concept
in scheme: projects
definition: Lake-ice cover has been shown to be a robust indicator of climate variability and change. Recent studies have demonstrated that break-up dates, in particular, have been occurring earlier in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere over the last 50 years in response to warmer climatic conditions in the winter and spring seasons. Break-up dates, and to a lesser extent freeze-up dates, have been shown to be strongly related to the variability and trends in the 0oC isotherm dates as well as large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns (teleconnections), particularly in western North America. The impacts of recently documented trends in air temperature and winter precipitation over the last five decades and those projected by global climate models could be significant on the timing and duration of ice cover (and on ice thickness) on Arctic lakes. This could, in turn, have an important feedback effect on energy, water, and biogeochemical cycling in various regions of the Arctic. How ice phenology (i.e. freeze-up/break-up dates, ice cover duration) and ice thickness have changed over the last five decades, and what will likely be the impacts of projected 21st century climate warming on ice cover for lakes of various depths in different regions of the pan-Artic domain are questions that must be examined in order to gain a deeper understanding of climate-lake interactions in the Arctic. The proposed research project will seek to answer these pressing questions. The overall goal will be to provide a pan-Arctic view of the temporal and spatial variability and trends in lake ice cover in relation to teleconnection patterns during the second half of the 20th century, and plausible scenarios of the response of lake ice cover to projected future climate. The analyses from this research will provide a better understanding of the impacts of the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic oscillations on past lake-ice conditions. This, along with modelled projections of future clima…